Opposite Ends of the Spectrum
by Selene Metis
Summary: The Earth Kingdom began the war 10 years ago. Aang was captured at the age of 2yrs. Now it's up to Katara and her allies to rescue the Avatar and end the war the Earth Kingdom so vainly began.
1. The Boy in the Hood

**A/N: Hey! So this is my first story, and i can't wait to see where it goes. I also can't wait for you guys to read it as well. This is Zutara, with some other elements thrown in, but let me outline some important aspects for you.**

** is no time overlap. Aang exists, and so does Katara and the gang. No iceberg, no 100yrs overlap.**

**2. The Earth Kingdom started the war 10 years ago by kidnapping a 2yr old Aang.**

**3. Katara pretty much mastered waterbending. Aang's fate on bending, however, will be determined later.**

**4. None of the Airbenders are dead, they still happily occupy their Temples.**

**5. Things like Suki and Jet will probably be condensed and pushed together. Just so that i don't end up writing a million chapters.**

**That's pretty much it, now go enjoy!**

* * *

Katara and Sokka have been walking all day.

Since early morning Sokka has been complaining. He doesn't want to walk anymore, he doesn't have enough food or water, and he's cold. It was starting to get on Katara's last nerve.

"Sokka, will you just shut up?" Katara finally snapped when the sun began to set. He gave her an indignant look, and started to open his mouth when she interrupted him. "No, I'm serious. Do you think we're going to get to the Fire Nation Capital before a huge disaster when you're constantly complaining?"

"Look, Katara, I just think that-" He suddenly broke off, a grim expression crossing his face. "Did you hear that?"

Katara began to shake her head when Sokka grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the nearest bush.

This was bordering on enemy territory, since Katara and Sokka were so close to the Fire Nation Capital, both the siblings knew that, but there was no safe place to travel when the sun went down.

Ever since the war between the tribes had started ten years ago, the Water Tribe and Fire Nation hadn't been the best of friends. Each nation blamed the other for not being able to prevent the dramatic situation the Earth Kingdom had caused the world to enter.

The Earth Kingdom began the war suddenly, without any warning. After a few months of battles, word finally began to spread of how they had done it so quickly. _Metalbending. _No one knew how they Earthbenders had learned to ben metal, (Although several people thought the Bei Fongs had something to do with it), and no one had known how to react to the sudden ambush.

Although the Earth Nation had started the war by capturing the Avatar, the Air Nomads hadn't tried to save him. Katara liked to believe they were planning something big, Sokka said they had just given up hope.

Katara's Gran-Gran had told her that the Water Tribes and Fire Nation had tried to construct diplomatic relations with the Air Nomads. After three years, and very little help from the Airbenders, the relations had fallen into despair.

That's when the three nations began blaming each other. Due to this, the Earth Kingdom had developed hundreds of colonies, and ruined hundreds of lives.

"Shh," Sokka whispered into her ear. She shot him a glare that she didn't think he could see in the fading light.

Suddenly, Sokka jumped from behind the bush. "AAHHHH!" He cried, scuffling with something. It took Katara a minute to recognize the two grunts of brute effort, the way two sets of shoes were sliding past her hiding spot, and the way someone was yelling for her brother to knock it off.

Sokka wasn't fighting with an animal for dinner, he was wrestling against another human being. And she wasted to know why this person would be so close to the outskirts of the Fire Nation Capital.

"Stop, stop it! _Quit it_!" Katara shouted as she jumped up from behind the bush, waving her arms to get her brother's attention. When the fight finally stopped, the stranger had Sokka in a headlock, panting hard with the unexpected effort.

Katara said, in what she hoped was a firm voice, "Let him go. We don't want to hurt you." She heard a snort of laughter as a response as the stranger let go of her brother.

"I wasn't ready," Sokka murmured, moving to stand next to Katara, facing the stranger.

She elbowed her older brother in the ribs, lightly, "_You_ jumped on _him_." She reminded him gently.

The man who Sokka had attacked was facing them, arms crossed across his chest, his face well hidden in the black hood from the cape he was wearing. "Who are you?" Sokka demanded, "And why are you wandering these areas so close to the Fire Nation Capital?"

"I could ask you the same thing." The man responded, in an almost bored tone. Katara was fascinated. Although it wasn't the best idea, she wanted to know anything she could about the mysterious guy standing in front of them. "But I won't. Instead, I'll gladly answer your question." She rolled her eyes, suddenly not interested in this guy's sarcasm.

The man standing in front of them moved his hands from his chest, and pulled the hood back from his face.

He had dark, shaggy black hair, and golden eyes. He wasn't a man, but a boy. He couldn't be more than two years older than she was. Katara instantly recognized him, and she heard Sokka gasp as he realized it too.

The scar was the dead giveaway.

"Fire Prince Zuko." Sokka said, his voice tight. "Why are you wandering your own Nation?"

"I was unhappy with the staff my father has employed. And if they fail to do things right, he takes it out on me." Zuko says, looking at the ground as he spoke.

"That's not all," Katara said, breaking the unhappy silence that had enveloped the trio. "We'll tell you our secrets if you tell us yours."

Sokka looked at her like she was crazy, Zuko looked up, met her eyes, and nodded.

Ten minutes later, the three of them were sitting around a fire pit that Zuko lit on a stack of logs. Katara had passed around the meat she and Sokka had been carrying, and Sokka had complained about not having _enough_ meat..

"I'm Katara." She said after they all began eating. "And this is my older brother, Sokka." Her brother grunted a greeting while eating. "I'm the second-to-last waterbender left in my tribe. Sokka has a boomerang." Sokka snorted. "We're trying to get to the Capital to restore relations with the Southern Water Tribe."

Zuko met her eyes. "So far away." He murmured. "You walked all the way here? Impressive." He smirked slightly at Sokka's disgruntled expression.

Sokka looked up at Zuko and couldn't help but smile. "What about you?"

"I was leaving." Zuko began after finishing his food. "I don't think that the Fire Nation is doing enough to end this war. I was planning to go the Southern Water Tribe to try to establish some sort of agreement. I thought we could even find the Airbenders, and rescue the Avatar." Zuko said, turning his face away as if embarrassed.

Katara thought to herself for a second, awestruck. That was exactly what she had wanted to do; only she wanted to go to the Northern Water Tribe as well.

Sokka, however, had a different opinion.

"You do realize the Avatar was taken when he was two years old right? What if he's been brainwashed? Or worse?"

"We won't know until we get to him," Zuko shot back, obviously unhappy.

"Stop it." Katara said, trying to get a few minutes to think. "We need to get reinforcements. From all three Nations. And we need to get to the Earth Kingdom before they do something else that's awful. And the only way to do that it to start." She met Zuko's surprised eyes.

"We need reinforcements," Zuko agreed, nodding.

Sokka suddenly blurted out, "What's in this for you, Zuko?"

"Excuse me?"

Katara's brother faltered, obviously forgetting how he was talking to the Crown Prince of the Fire nation. "I just mean, uhh. You could get reinforcements easily. You're Fire Lord Ozai's son. Anything you want can magically happen." Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"My father doesn't want the war to end. He thinks if he stays out of it, he'll get some power when the Earth Kingdom wins. He recruited my sister. I spoke out against his thoughts, and refused to allege myself with him, and that's when he gave me this scar." Zuko scowled at the dirt, obviously unhappy about his family situation. "Azula gets promised ruling abilities, and i get an Agni Kai against my own father," he muttered so quietly that Katara wasn't sure if she heard him correctly

Katara set her hand on his shoulder in an act of comfort, but he quickly shoved it off. She glared at him. "That sounds terrible," she said, trying not to let her annoyance show through her compassion, "I'm sorry."

"That's not all." He said, turning his head away from both of them. Zuko sighed, then turned back to meet Katara's eyes. Katara could practically feel Sokka's anticipation.

"I'm sure the Earth Kingdom has my mother captured along with the Avatar."

* * *

**A/N #2: Yeah, i know it's kinda short. It'll probably get longer as the story progresses. Plus, this was just kinda to introduce the plot.**

**So leave your thoughts, any sort of review is fine. I want to know how i'm doing on my pilot story, and how you guys liked it!**

**Awkward lurkers are welcome, and don't be shy to recommend stories to me. I love new material!**


	2. Resolve in Their Eyes

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, although few, (lurkers?), they really gave me confidence to move forward with the story!

Here's the next chapter in the story, enjoy, and let me know what you think!

* * *

The embers in the fire played off of Zuko's golden eyes as he stared into it.

Katara couldn't breath for a moment. His _mother_? His mother was captured and his own family didn't want to save her?

"Zuko," Katara whispered. This time, she put her hand on his shoulder and he didn't shake it off. "I know how you feel." She suddenly felt very connected to Zuko. They both had troubled families, and both just wanted to end the war to get some stability back into their lives. Although when he glared at her, fire dancing in his golden eyes, she began to regret her thoughts.

"Yeah?" He asked, suddenly angry. "How?" He didn't shake her hand off, though.

"Our mother was killed by an Earth Kingdom soldier four years ago." Sokka answered for her. His arms were crossed, and he was looking away. "Our father left for the Northern Water Tribe after, and we haven't seen him since."

Sokka had never been good at emotions. He usually hid them with sarcasm, his boomerang, and his constant love of meat jokes. Seeing this side of him wasn't something Katara was used to, although she had seen it a few times when they were kids, and she felt Zuko's shoulder stiffen under her hand.

Zuko was quiet. After what felt like a long time, he murmured, "Sorry," and shook off her hand. He leaned against the tree that was behind him, and crossed his arms after staring back into the fire.

Katara's chest felt heavy. After her mom had died, she'd cried for weeks. Her Gran-gran had comforted her, giving her tea and whispering soothing words into her ears. Sokka had immediately gotten to work on taking over their father's jobs in the Tribe. Sokka had recovered a lot faster than Katara, he trained hard and refused to show her a tear. As much as she hated to admit it, Katara envied her brother for his strength after the death of Kya.

Almost a month after Kya's death, Katara took on the same resolve. She focused only on her waterbending. Her Gran-gran had called in Master Pakku from the Northern Water Tribe. Since Katara had been the last waterbender in her Tribe, her Gran-gran had realized the necessity of her granddaughter learning waterbending... and soon. After a few years, Katara was considered a Master waterbender, and that's when she decided she was strong enough for the real world.

That was when she decided to set out to the Fire Nation, gain allies, and end the war. Pakku had stayed in the Southern Tribe. Katara had an idea it had something to do with her grandmother, but she wasn't too sure.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Katara asked, breaking the heavy, uneasy silence that had stretched for a while.

"Our best bet is to get a ship and a crew from my palace." Zuko answered, looking at Sokka. Katara's brother nodded. "Now we need to sleep, though," the Prince said, poking at the fire. "We don't want to be tired when trying to get allies." He chuckled to himself, probably to his own joke, unknown to the siblings.

Katara moved over a few feet from Zuko and gathered a pile of leaves. "Then goodnight." She said, lying down, a little uneasy.

It was something about having a new person with her. For months it had been just her and Sokka, and suddenly there was a new person. Not just a person, but also a _boy._ And Zuko was a mysterious boy with family issues and an entire Nation in his future possession.

And this boy wasn't her _brother._

She decided to ignore the strange way he breathed as he laid down with his back towards the tree he was leaning on before, and focused on losing her own consciousness.

* * *

"Do you think this is going to work?"

Katara's eyes shot open. She immediately though the worst, that Earth Kingdom soldiers had found them and had were planning a murderous siege. It was still dark, and Katara's head felt heavy.

"What will work?" Katara recognized her brother's voice. As she slowly woke up, she realized Sokka and Zuko were talking to each other from across the fire pit.

"This project." Zuko answered. "Gaining help, rescuing the Avatar, and ending the Earth Kingdom's war."

It was silent. Katara closed her eyes, thinking that the boys had stopped talking, when Sokka answered. "Honestly? I don't know. At first I just wanted to keep Katara's spirits up. But now she's hell-bent on ending this war. I don't know what she's getting us into."

"Azula, my sister, used to tell me I had no spine. She said that I give up on everything and wasn't fit to call myself a Fire Nation Prince. For years I believed her. I let it ruin my relationship with my uncle, and almost the one with my mother. I'm not letting that happen anymore, I'm finally going to do something." Zuko's voice had hardened by the end of his speech.

"Sounds like an ass of a sister." Sokka said, and Katara swore that she could hear a smile in his voice... and she hoped Zuko heard it, too. Zuko was known around the world as surly, hot-headed, and ready to blow a fuse.

After a moment, he chuckled. "Yeah, you have no idea."

Sokka didn't answer, and after a few more minutes, Katara fell back asleep.

* * *

"Katara, wake up. We have to go." Sokka's hand was warm on her shoulder. Katara opened her eyes and the sun seemed to blind her.

She sat up and looked at their now empty campsite. Zuko was leaning against a tree, arms crossed and hood pulled over his hair. He nodded at her then looked at the ground.

She stood up and stretched, and her stomach tightened. Her mind fled back to the conversation Zuko and Sokka had in the middle of the night, (or had Katara imagined that?), and she gulped.

Katara and her brother finally had a plan. No more countrywide walks, or sleepless nights. They had a course of action, and they were _going_ to stop this war.

Katara looked up, facing the area that they were going to head into. She could see the tip of the Fire Nation Palace over a huge wall that divided the kingdom from the outer markets and a few villages. Most people in the Fire Nation lived outside of the wall, but there were several markets and homes of common people within the wall.

Of course, the Royal family were the only people to live inside the Palace. Well, them and their servants and helpers.

Zuko looked up and met both of their gazes. "Let's go." And with that, they started towards the Fire Nation Palace.

* * *

**A/N #2**: There you go, review, and tell me what you think!


	3. Surprises

Katara, Sokka, and Zuko walked slowly towards the wall. When they had started walking, Zuko had told them that they should walk almost hidden in the bushes to avoid any Fire Nation soldiers from attacking them.

Sokka had laughed, saying he could take any of them.

When Zuko led the three of them towards a group of trees close to the wall, he had stopped and knocked on the trunk of one of the trees.

"What are you doing?" Katara hissed, thinking for a second that he was signaling someone, that he had lied about wanting to help.

Zuko turned around and glared at her. He had pulled apart a piece of the bark, and had his hand inside, obviously digging for something. After a few seconds, he puled out a bundle. "Put these on," he instructed, handing one to Katara and another to Sokka.

"Cloaks?" Sokka asked, holding the article in front of him. "Why?"

"So people won't know who you are." Zuko answered, and Katara could practically hear the eye roll in his voice. I'm going to get rid of mine, say you're with me, and that's how we'll get through the gates without drawing attention."

"I guess that could work," Katara said. She understood why it had to happen, though. If anyone in the Fire Capital knew that they were from the Water Tribe, the siblings would be immediately labeled as traitors, and most likely locked away.

Sokka grumbled something incoherent as he swung the cloak around to clasp it in front of his neck. Katara brought hers around her neck and did the same. When she looked back up, Zuko was no longer in his cloak, but in his standard Fire Nation Prince clothing, complete with a topknot and a crown.

Katara whistled, knowing it would make him feel uncomfortable. "Looking good, Zuko." And she winked. He shot her a glare, but she could see a ghost of a smile playing around the edges of his mouth.

"Come on, you two. We don't have time for flirting." Sokka said, grabbing both of their shoulders and shaking them. Zuko immediately shook his hand off and stuffed his cloak back in the tree before moving the bark back into place.

Sokka elbowed Zuko in the chest, in a joking manner. "I'm kidding dude, chill."

Zuko nodded. "I know that, Sokka. But we don't exactly have time to kid. We have to get a ship _today_, or we may lose any and all time to surprise the Earth Kingdom. We need to go now."

He led them out of the bushes, and Katara gasped. She and her brother immediately brought the hoods up to cover their faces. There were Fire Nation soldiers posted everywhere outside of the wall. Their masks covered their faces, and they looked as if they weren't even breathing. At the center of the first group of soldiers was a door with a window at the side.

Zuko led them right up to the door. "Name." a gruff voice said through a little voice box, sounding bored.

Zuko brought himself up to his full height and Katara had to stifle the urge to snicker. "Fire Prince Zuko." He said, his voice sounding strong and powerful.

"Prince Zuko," the voice said, sounding surprised and nervous. "What are you doing outside of the wall this early? And who are these two nomads you're traveling with?" Katara could already hear buttons being pressed from the inside, and a few voices shouting about whom it was outside of the gate.

"What does it matter?" Zuko asked, his voice angry. "Let us in the Capital."

The man didn't answer from inside of the gate and Katara suspected it had something to do with being afraid of the Crown Prince.

Suddenly, the door next to the trio opened, and Zuko quickly darted inside. Sokka grabbed Katara's elbow and pulled her along with him. Zuko didn't allow them any time to gape at the Capital; he merely weaved in and out of the citizens.

After a few minutes the citizens seemed to realize who he was, and they began to part to give him room to walk. Sokka pulled her in line behind him, using his other hand to keep the hood tight around his face.

Katara wasn't paying much attention. She couldn't wrap her mind around Zuko's mother's disappearance, especially now that she was seeing the Capital. The streets were cobblestone, and there were houses all along the sides of the wall. Markets and stalls lined the area, with people dashing between each one to get any and all shopping done.

According to Zuko, his mother had been taken one night during an Earth Kingdom raid. There had been a mole in the Fire Nation Palace who had allowed the soldiers access to the Kingdom, and the soldiers had nearly destroyed the marketplace.

The last time Zuko saw his mother was when he saw her through a window, she was running towards the marketplace to try and help. She vanished in some of the dust of the rubble, and Zuko couldn't see her afterwards.

He went to ask his father about it, but when he wouldn't answer, Zuko ran to his room, the sound of Azula's laughter following him the entire time.

By this time, the group had reached the doors to the Palace. Zuko turned around to face them, "Wait here, and don't talk to anyone. I'll come get you in a few minutes."

Katara opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, Zuko disappeared into the Palace.

"I'm hungry." Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Can we go to one of the food stalls around here?"

"No." Katara said, rolling her eyes. "You heard Zuko, we have to stay here. And we have no money." Sokka mumbled something, but Katara's attention had drifted.

Over by one of the stalls selling shoes, a woman was talking heatedly with the man running the stall. Katara leaned forward to try and catch a few of the words.

"-I swear to you that I didn't take it!" The woman shouted; throwing the shoes she was holding back onto the counter.

"If you didn't, then explain to me how it disappeared when you got here!" He yelled back, holding up a red shoe. "Give me the matching shoe back."

"I don't have it!" She cried, throwing her hands up.

Suddenly the man shoved his hand out in front of him, throwing out a jet of fire that missed the woman's head by less than an inch. She shrieked, throwing her hands over her head. Katara realized the woman couldn't bend otherwise she would have retaliated.

The man jumped over his countertop, and began shooting fire at the woman with both hands, each time she was able to dodge them by only a little amount.

"Katara!" She heard Sokka yell after her, but she didn't listen. She ran towards the brawl, which had attracted attention from the other shoppers in the marketplace. A small circle had formed around the pair, and to Katara's horror, they were cheering the man along.

Katara unclasped the pouch from her belt and jumped into the center of the two.

She blocked the next onslaught of fire with her waterbending.

There were gasps everywhere as people realized that she wasn't like them. Katara's hood fell off, and she used her training to defend the woman.

The man, at first, seemed surprised that he was now fighting a Waterbender, but his surprise wore off and he began to attack at her with the same ferociousness as he had the woman.

Katara held her own, though, and used some water from across the marketplace in the fountain to aid her fighting.

When Katara was finally gaining some leverage and the man was wearing down, a hand grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her out of the way of the next jet of fire.

Another wave of fire hit the man in the chest, sending him sprawling in front of his stall. Now there were screams echoing all around the square. "Waterbender!" "It's one of them!" "She's come to destroy us!" were just some of the screams Katara managed to catch as Zuko pulled her back through the crowd.

Only now he was sprinting. "What is wrong with you?" He shouted when they finally reached Sokka. "What part of the Fire Nation hating the Water Tribes did you not understand?"

Sokka just looked disappointed.

Before Katara could answer and say that she just wanted to help the woman, Zuko pulled her into the Palace behind Sokka. The last thing Katara saw from the square was the woman and man who had been fighting helping each other clean up the shoes that had fallen.

Zuko led them through the first floor, taking the first right that he could. They reached a door at the end of the hallway, and Zuko simply burned a hole through the door, not bothering to open it.

"If my father hears about this, I'm dead. No chance of redemption. He'll call me a traitor and have me exiled," Zuko mumbled as he dragged her to a dock.

"I can walk for myself!" Katara snapped, now agitated. She had only wanted _to help!_ She wrestled her wrist from Zuko's grasp, and sprinted in front of him to run next to Sokka. He didn't acknowledge her.

"Oh, Zuzu, when will you ever learn?" Katara heard Zuko's footsteps stop suddenly.

"Get to the ship, tell the captain to start the voyage. _Now_." Katara looked forward and saw that at the end of the dock there was only one ship, and that ship was teeming with Fire Nation soldiers.

"Zuko-" Katara began, turning around.

"GO!" He shouted, turning away from them. Sokka grabbed her wrist and pushed her to the ladder of the ship. She climbed it, and as she reached the top a warm hand grabbed hers and heaved her onto the deck. Sokka swiftly followed.

Katara ran to the front of the ship, leaning over the railing, and immediately located Zuko.

"Azula. I thought you were away with Father today." Zuko said, his voice controlled, but Katara could hear fear creeping through.

"Oh, please. Like it would take that long for us to destroy one Earth Kingdom colony that displeased General Bei Fong." Azula laughed, and it was one of the most wicked things Katara had ever heard.

Azula was beautiful, in one of the most dangerous ways Katara could ever imagine. Her long dark hair was swept back from her shoulders, and her eyes were the same golden color that Zuko's were.

"Zuko said to start the ship," Sokka said, his hand on one of the Soldier's shoulders. The soldier nodded, and hurried off to find the captain.

Katara looked back towards Zuko and his sister. "You enjoy destroying people's homes, don't you?" He asked, his hands clasped firmly in front of his chest.

"Zuzu, you know as well as I do that that wasn't a home. It simply housed a few Earth Kingdom soldiers that the Bei Fongs had wanted gone for a while. But in other news, why are you harboring Water Tribe peasants?" Azula suddenly shot out a jet of fire towards her brother, which he narrowly escaped.

"None. Of. Your. Business." Zuko growled.

"Her fire is blue," Sokka said breathlessly, and Katara realized he was standing next to her.

Azula shot another barrage at him, and after doing a flip over it, Zuko fired at her from the air. They went on like this, both of them evenly matched, until Zuko began to get tired, and Azula simply continued her horrifically beautiful bending.

"Ship's leaving!" Sokka yelled at Zuko, his hands cupped over his mouth to get the Prince's attention.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted, clasping her hand over her brother's mouth.

It was too late.

Zuko looked back towards the ship, and Azula saw her chance to attack her brother again- and possible end him. She began to move in a strange, quick way, and Katara realized she was summoning lightening.

"No." Katara whispered. "NO!" She shouted. Zuko may be moody and annoying, but they needed him, the world needed him.

Summoning all of her strength, Katara lifted her arms above her head, bringing the water from the harbor with her. When her wave was large enough, she yelled, "Zuko look out!" And shoved her hands in front of her, pushing the water out towards the siblings.

Zuko dove out of the way, avoiding the water, but Azula was not so lucky. She was caught in the onslaught, and disappeared beneath the water.

Zuko ran on the dock, running towards the ship, which was gaining speed quickly. He jumped from the edge, and managed to grab the bottom rung of the ladder, also falling halfway into the water. He pulled himself up, and Sokka was there at the top to help him onto the deck.

The Prince collapsed in a heap, falling onto his back. Katara ran towards him, pushing his wet hair out of his face. "I didn't know you could do that," Zuko said, sounding breathless.

Katara managed a small smile, "Me neither."

"Is she," Sokka said, running his hand through his hair. "Will she be, you know, dead?" he asked, looking away.

"No." Zuko said. "There's no way we could get rid of her that easily. She'll go report to my father." He was quiet for a few minutes. "I didn't know she could do that." He looked up to meet the sibling's eyes. "Summon lightning, I mean. A few more seconds, and I would have been fried."

He looked away, clearly uncomfortable with admitting to needing help when fighting his sister. Or thanking something for it.

Zuko stood up and walked to the front of the ship. Katara followed his gaze to see Azula standing at the edge of the dock, a hideously beautiful smile carved onto her face.

Katara and Sokka joined him, standing on either side. "Any food on this ship?" Sokka asked immediately. Zuko laughed quietly.

"Talk to the chef on the top floor," he answered.

"Where are we going first?" Katara asked, breaking the silence that had stretched between them.

"To an Earth Kingdom colony about halfway from here to the Southern Air Temple. There have been rumors about a group of vigilantes rebelling against the Earth Kingdom soldiers that hold them there."

"I guess that's a good place as any to start," Katara agreed. She studied Zuko's face for a moment. "Zuko, what's wrong?"

Zuko didn't answer for a moment. Then he heaved a heavy sigh and looked down to meet her eyes. "As soon as that report gets back to my father, I'm done. He'll know I'm working with the 'enemy,'" he put air quotes around the word, "And he'll want more than ever to help the Earth Kingdom finish their takeover." He sighed and scowled to the ground.

"Oh, and Azula now _has_ a reason to kill me. Before it was just because she didn't like me." Zuko laughed, a dark depressing sound that sent chills up Katara's spine.

She regained her composure. "But hey, you've got a ship, a crew, a kick-ass Waterbender, and a meat-loving boomerang boy to help you out. Zuko, we're going to finish this, and your father won't hurt you at all."

He mumbled something that sounded like, "But he already has," but Katara couldn't be too sure.

He smiled at her after a minute. "Okay, fine. Now let's go make sure Sokka doesn't eat everything on the ship."

She nodded, and the two of them turned around and headed down a flight of stairs towards the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N: **There you go, review and let me know.  
I kinda squeezed a bit of action into a little amount of time, simply to introduce Katara's waterbending abilities, and the turmoil in Zuko about his father and sister.  
So let me know what you thought!


	4. Secrets of the Liars

**A/N: **Hey, there. Sorry it took so long to publish this, before i really knew what was happening i was swamped with track meets and  
homework. But better late than never right?  
So without any more delay, here's the next chapter!

* * *

It had been three weeks since Katara, Zuko, and Sokka had first set off from the Fire Nation. Little word had come in from the outside world, and Katara was starting to worry that something big was happening and they didn't know about it.

Zuko had changed from his standard Fire Nation Royalty outfit to a dark outfit that looked more like a bandit's clothing to Katara, but he claimed it was simply for comfort while they were traveling.

Katara and Sokka had stayed in their regular Water Tribe clothes, mostly because they didn't have any other clothes, and the only outfits on the ship were the soldier's uniforms.

Zuko had warned them that they were most likely wanted in the Nations after their stunts in the Fire Nation and that disguising themselves would help keep them safe, but the siblings didn't have many options.

Katara had stashed her cloak in her room on the lower deck just in case.

Katara and Sokka had spent their first few days following Zuko around as he taught them the interior of the ship. It was a little unnerving, especially for Sokka, to be on a ship instead of the ground. Although they were both from a tribe made almost entirely of water, neither of them had spent so much time on a ship before.

Zuko had spent most of the remaining time talking to the Captain and Chief of War, trying to devise a more defined plan for the trio to follow. Sokka had followed at first, but now he mostly spent his time in the kitchen with the chef.

Katara had been practicing her waterbending so she would be able to protect someone when it came down to it. She didn't want to feel weak, and most definitely didn't want to be caught off guard by any Earth Kingdom soldiers.

She was standing at the front of the ship, moving the waves so that the ship could cut through them a bit easier, when Zuko found her at the beginning of the fourth week.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asked, referring to how she got seasick during the first week.

She dropped the water and turned her head to meet his eyes, but he was staring out at the setting sun. "Yes," she said, rolling her eyes. "It was over two weeks ago, Zuko."

He met her eyes. "Still. If you kept getting sick you wouldn't be very helpful during an ambush."

Katara opened her mouth to respond when a noise behind her caught her attention. "Stupid boomerang," she heard Sokka say as he clanged up the last few steps towards where Katara and Zuko were standing.

"Problem?" She called out to him, catching him off guard. He smiled though, when he saw that it was his sister.

"Nah," he said, coming to stand on the other side of her. "My boomerang got stuck in a crack in the wall and didn't come back, and then the chef said there wasn't enough food for me to eat before breakfast in the morning." Sokka sighed in an exasperated manner, and Katara couldn't help but laugh. She heard Zuko laugh quietly from beside her.

A silence descended over the trio as the sun finished setting over the horizon in front of them. A light clicked on behind them and a few soldiers clomped hurriedly around the deck to get a few things done before the guard's shifts changed.

"When are we supposed to get to this Earth Kingdom colony?" Sokka asked after a few more minutes.

Zuko looked over at him, leaning over the railing a little to look around Katara before answering Sokka, "Tomorrow. We should arrive to the colony by noon tomorrow."

"And we're going to try to help the citizens there?" Katara asked, looking back out towards the water.

"Not necessarily." Zuko answered, looking away, "We're going to try to get a few more allies. Benders or not, we can use all the help we can get. If someone needs help, then we'll comply." The three of them nodded at each other before turning to walk down the staircase and return to their respective rooms.

Although Katara's room was bare, she still liked the bed better than the tents and leaves she had been sleeping on before. Her room had a nightstand set up next to the bed, and a single window that gave her a view of the contents of the ocean.

She climbed into her bed and stared up at the ceiling. One lamp illuminated her room, and she stared at the single circle of light that she could see on her ceiling.

For the last few weeks, Katara hadn't felt nervous at all about going to an Earth Kingdom colony and trying to help, but now the nerves were settling in. She had never been somewhere where there were so many Earth Kingdom soldiers, and she feared that she might get hurt during an encounter with them.

But as Katara lay in her bed, beginning to fall asleep, her resolve hardened. The one reason she had left home months ago was to help the earth and end the war. Now she was finally doing just that.

And there was no time to question her decisions.

* * *

Katara woke up later than usual the next morning, and as she wandered from her room she learned from a passing soldier that she had missed breakfast. She stopped at the kitchen and grabbed a cup of tea and some fruit before walking up to the top deck.

There she saw Zuko, Sokka, the war chief, and a few other soldiers all collected around some maps on a small table. Katara looked over the edge of the ship to the horizon to see a beach leading towards some woods. It was the island that the Earth Kingdom colony was on.

The ship slowly stopped moving as it pulled into the shallow water leading up to the beach. As Katara sipped her tea she observed the scenery in front of her. The beach was narrow, but it wasn't small. She could see a small path leading into the forest, but she couldn't see anything further into the trees.

She gave her cup to a passing soldier and went to sit next to Sokka around the table. The Captain was talking, his voice low and his finger pointing at something on a map, "You will have exactly four hours to get into the colony, find allies, and get out. Otherwise the Earth Kingdom will know we're here and try to capture you."

Katara held her breath, and Sokka placed a hand over her shoulder. Zuko was staring intently at the maps. "We need to get here," he said, pointing to a spot, "Before the soldiers from here," Zuko pointed to another spot a few inches away, "find out that we've infiltrated a camp." He summarized, crossing his arms over his chest. "Seems doable."

The men all stood, and after a second Katara followed suit, and the Captain leaned down to roll up each of the maps. He looked back up and met Zuko's eyes, "Do you want any soldiers?"

"No." The Prince said, shaking his head. "They'll respond to us better if we're not too intimidating. And we can take any soldiers if they happen to find us," he said, looking over to smile at Katara.

"The boomerang is ready!" Sokka cried, thrusting his weapon of choice into the circle of men. Katara rolled her eyes, but a few men in the group chuckled.

The Captain nodded. "Very well then. I wish you all the best of luck. We can't sail any farther to the coast for fear of exposure, but we'll be here when you return." The Captain shook Zuko's outstretched hand and nodded at the siblings.

The trio stood at the tip of the ship, and debated how they would be able to get from the ship to the coast.

The three of them were wearing new cloaks so they could easily disguise themselves from any soldiers or citizens who got suspicious.

"I guess we could take a rowboat." Zuko suggested; his arms crossed over his chest again.

"No." Katara said. She raised her right hand and the water followed her directions easily. It rose up to the height of the ship before solidifying into ice when she blew at it. Katara smiled at her finished product, it was a ramp of ice leading directly to the shore of the beach.

"Nice one, little sis." Sokka said, nodding in approval. He used the arm not holding his boomerang to hoist himself over the railing before proceeding to slide down the ramp. He jumped off to avoid snagging at the end, but still managed to trip into a pile of seaweed before coming to a stop.

Zuko looked down at her. "It's now or never," he said, taking her arm and pulling her over the banister with him.

For a split second she contemplated telling him to let her go and allow her to get to the shore by herself, but his arm was strong around her waist while his other hand held onto the banister. And she kinda liked it.

He let go of the banister by pushing against it, instinctively tightening his arm around her waist. She turned her head around, raising her hand behind her so that as they passed over the ice it became water again.

When they hit the sand he let go of her waist as she dropped her hand, allowing the water to fall back into the ocean.

"We follow this path, and the colony should be a little farther into the trees?" Sokka asked, gesturing towards the dirt with his boomerang.

"Yes. And make sure you keep your face hidden," Zuko answered, pulling his hood over his face. In contrast to the shadow the hood formed his scar looked much darker against his pale skin.

Katara did the same before moving in front of Zuko to walk next to her brother as they began following the path between the trees.

The first thing Katara noticed was that the sun seemed to disappear. The canopy of trees overhead was so thick that the sun couldn't get through. The ground was hard-packed dirt, as if it had been walked on for a very long time. There was barely enough room for Katara and Sokka to walk side by side, so Katara dropped back.

It was difficult to see just where they were going, and Katara briefly wondered if that was done in order to protect the colony from any unwanted soldiers.

"Do you see anything?" Zuko called from where he was standing.

"No," Sokka answered, and she could hear his hacking at some leaves with his arm, "I think we have to-"

Suddenly his voice cut out, there was a muffled shout, and then everything was silent.

Katara froze, and it took Zuko a moment to realize that she had stopped. "Tell me you heard that," She whispered, afraid to make even the tiniest sound.

"Heard what?" Zuko asked.

Katara was about to answer when a hand grabbed her roughly on the elbow and jerked her into the trees.

"Katara!" She heard Zuko shout before his voice was cut off from her.

A cloth wrapped around her mouth, and a set of hands clasped hers behind her back. What felt like a rope tightened around her wrists, and it felt as if her blood circulation had stopped flowing to her hands.

Something heavy slammed into the back of Katara's head, and she slumped against the arms of her captor.

* * *

When Katara slowly began to wake up, the first thing she took notice of was the pain in her skull. It seemed to reverberate around her head as she stretched her neck. Next, her arms were pulled behind her back and she realized that her arms were tied around some type of pole.

"Arrggh, unngghh." She heard someone groan from beside her. She finally gained enough strength to open her eyes, and she saw Sokka tied up to her right, his eyes still closed. She turned the other way and met Zuko's eyes.

He was in the same position she was, but he had his legs propped up instead of sprawled in front of him like Katara had.

"Are you alright?" He whispered, looking away from her.

She did the same, trying to figure out if she knew where they were. She figured they were in the Earth Kingdom colony, unless their ambushers had dragged them somewhere else. She saw their cloaks in a pile by a fire pit.

But she soon saw that this wasn't true because from her vantage point she could see the path leading towards the trees. Katara realized that she couldn't see any homes, no tents, compounds, or anything.

"I think so," She answered. "Any idea where we are?"

"The colony," she heard Sokka answer from her right. "It's got to be."

"I don't see any citizens." Zuko said.

"That's because we don't want you to see us." A man's voice said. Katara couldn't see the person who had spoken, so she figured he was standing on the opposite side of the pole.

"Come on out here and let us see you!" Sokka cried, "Unless you're scared." Katara looked over at her brother, his eyes were mad, but his boomerang was on the ground out of reach of his feet.

Sokka cried out in pain as the boy rounded the pole and hit her brother with the heel of his hand. "Shut it, Water Tribe." They boy said, moving to stand in front of the trio.

"Ooh, look, a pretty Water Tribe girl, and a Prince." He said, feigning a bow directed at Zuko.

She saw Zuko stiffen from the corner of her eye before he said, "Who are you?"

Before the boy could answer, five people dropped down from, Katara guessed, the trees to stand on either side of the boy. Katara squinted her eyes, and realized they were all women. All of them were dressed in long, green skirts with their faces painted, and fans opened towards Katara, Sokka, and Zuko.

"I'm Jet." The boy said. "The leader of the Freedom Fighters." He gestured towards the girls. Katara guessed they were the Freedom Fighters, but then he said, "And these are the Kyoshi Warriors."

Katara's eyes widened. She had heard of these women. Apparently, they had staged a few major ambushes on the Earth Kingdom from this colony, but the Earth King could never get a clear shot on them because they always hid somewhere in a colony full of civilians.

"And this is Suki," Jet finished a speech he had started when Katara wasn't listening, gesturing at the girl standing closest to him.

She looked over at Sokka, but his attention was elsewhere. He was focused on the Kyoshi Warrior standing the closest to Jet, whispering something in his ear. Suki.

Katara had to stifle a laugh; it was the goofy look he got when he thought someone was cute. His eyes were a little wider than usual, and Katara could almost see his tongue sticking out of his lips through a huge goofy grin. Suki scowled at him.

Zuko, on the other hand, wasn't amused by anything that was going on. "Why did you tie us up?" He demanded.

"Because we didn't want you harming any of out citizens." The Warrior answered. She glared at the Prince, clearly recognizing Zuko because of his scar.

Katara guessed Fire Nation Royalty wasn't very high on the Earth Kingdom colony's 'Friends' list.

Suddenly she spoke up, "But we have a common goal," Katara said, turning her gaze back to Jet. His eyes locked on hers, and Katara felt something flutter in her stomach.

"And what would that be?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow and smirking.

Katara paused a moment to make sure her voice wouldn't crack, "To stop the Earth Kingdom."

Suki's head whipped over to face Katara. "You guys are trying to end the war?" She asked quietly, flicking her fans into a holster in her belt. "We thought you were helping the Earth Kingdom." She looked back towards Jet, as if to get some sort of reassurance, but he dropped his gaze to the ground.

"Yeah we are!" Sokka cried, grinning like a madman. "That Earth Kingdom's going _down_!"

Zuko ignored him. "What would give you that idea?"

Suki glanced back at Jet before meeting Zuko's questioning gaze. "We got word from a messenger that you guys were bad news, and that we should watch out."

"When?" Katara asked.

"A week ago."

Katara was silent. A week ago they were still on the boat. Maybe the Fire Nation had started lies to get the trio killed. That would certainly save Azula the effort.

But Zuko's gaze said otherwise. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth was in a line. "Well, we're not evil." Katara looked back towards Jet, who winked at her with a wicked smile.

What?

Sokka started to ask if there was any food, and Katara felt her back begin to heat up. She immediately realized that Sokka and Zuko were working together, and she realized she had to be ready.

She spotted a river to her right, and smiled slowly to herself.

"No, you moron. Why would we feed you? You're lucky if you don't get fed to something!" Jet cried, smacking his forehead. Suki looked over at him, and that one moment of distraction was all they needed.

The ropes broke from behind the group, and all three of them jumped up as quickly as they could. Zuko was immediately shooting fire bolts at the Warriors, while Katara summoned as much water as she could at that moment. Katara saw Sokka run in the opposite direction, either towards or away from someone.

Katara pushed the water out in front of her and as it enveloped the group she blew at it, freezing them all in place. Zuko was frozen too, but he quickly melted himself out with his bending. He came to stand next to her.

"Where's Sokka?" he asked.

Katara shook her head, but turned to look back at the frozen warriors -and Jet- in front of her. "Where's Suki?" She asked, looking up at Zuko. Suddenly the older boy ran to the right, disappearing behind a thick tree.

"Not bad, Water Tribe." A voice said behind her. She swirled around, only to find herself chest to chest with Jet. "You three actually snuck up on us."

"I-i thought you were in the ice." Katara stammered, trying to take a step back. But Jet grabbed her wrists and held them between the two of them.

He gestured towards the ground with his chin. "Used those," he said, winking at her again. On the dirt were a couple of weapons Katara had never seen before. They looked like hooks, but seemed to be sharper than swords. She shuddered.

"Now you're going to let my Warriors go, or I'm going to call the rest of them. Understand?"

"No."

Jet's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" His head jerked towards their hands. "You can't bend. This is your only option. Unless you want to die." He shrugged and smiled at her, "Doesn't make a difference to me."

Suddenly his eyes widened and he dropped her hands. He did a quick backflip just as a stream of fire dissolved right where he had been standing.

"Don't threaten her." Zuko was standing about twenty feet away, his arms still poised to shoot at Jet. Next to him, Sokka was holding Suki's elbow, her wrists bound by some kind of cloth.

"We need to talk." Zuko said, moving his arms to cross his chest. "We didn't come here to fight you. We need allies. We're trying to get to the Earth Kingdom, and we can't do it with three benders and a handful of soldiers."

Jet studied Zuko for a moment, both of them sizing each other up. Katara held her breath; ready to bend the water if anything bad happened.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jet nodded.

He turned back to face Katara. "Let them go." He said, gesturing towards the Warriors. Suki scowled.

Katara nodded. She put her hand over her shoulder, flicked it down, and the water collapsed into the grass. She could hear the girls coughing and spluttering behind her. And a few of them called her a couple of choice words.

Twenty minutes later Katara, Jet, Zuko, Sokka, and Suki were all sitting around a table in a cabin in the trees. Jet had told them the secret of the colony: that all homes and buildings were in the trees, and that's why the soldiers of the Earth Kingdom were never able to find them.

Suki's wrists were still bound because when they had untied her she had lunged at Sokka with her fan. Now the two of them were on opposite sides of the table, glaring silently at each other.

"So all we're asking is that you come to help us. We have plenty of room on the ship, and we need help to end the war. We both want this, why not work together?" Zuko finished, looking only at Jet.

Jet looked over at Katara and held her gaze for a few seconds. She felt uncomfortable, but didn't want to be the first one to look away. Jet turned back towards Zuko and nodded.

Katara's eyes widened and she looked at Sokka, who met her gaze with the same expression.

"But not all of us are coming." Jet said, looking at Suki. "We can't put this place in danger. The five Kyoshi Warriors you saw today will come. The others will stay here and protect everyone. I'm in." He said, and Suki nodded in agreement.

Zuko nodded. "Good. Now we can make our way back to the ship. But we have to hurry, unless we want the Earth Kingdom soldiers to find us here."

The group stood up and made their way to the door, but Jet stopped them before they could get to the exit. "Untie her." He instructed, and Suki held her wrists out to Sokka. Katara's brother grumbled something, but complied. Suki looked victorious.

Katara made her way to the zip-lines, which was how the citizens got up and down from the trees, expecting to take the ride again with Sokka. However, Sokka was already gone, and Katara suspected that he had taken Suki.

She turned and saw Zuko waiting. He smiled a little at her, and Katara began to make her way to where he was standing. A hand clamped down on her wrist, though, and pulled her back and off of the platform.

She instinctively cried out, and she could hear Jet's laugh from where he was holding her waist. She didn't have any hold on the line, so she had to clutch to Jet's shoulders to avoid falling.

They landed quietly, and Jet laughed. "I knew there was a reason we kept those around." He pulled down on it twice before letting go, and the line disappeared back into the canopy.

Zuko landed next to them, and he scowled at Jet. "You could've at least warned her," he said. If Katara hadn't known better, she would've thought he was jealous.

"Aw, you're just jealous she didn't go with you." Jet said, waving away Zuko's concerns. The Prince dropped his gaze and turned away.

"Where's my brother?" Katara asked when Suki walked up to them alone. She shrugged.

"We have to go," Zuko said, "We're nearly out of time." He began to run through the colony to make his way through the trees. Suki and Jet shrugged at each other before following.

Katara sighed. "Oh, Sokka. Please don't get killed for food." And she set off after her teammates.

She made it to the beach quickly, where everyone was waiting. She turned toward the water, raising her hands in front of her. The water followed easily, and made a ramp up to the waiting deck of the ship. She stormed up the ice and could hear the others following her.

When they were all on the ship, she turned back towards the water and let it fall back into the ocean.

She turned to face the group. Suki and Jet were standing off to the side, looking uncomfortable. Zuko was standing with the captain, explaining everything that had happened within the last four hours.

"Sokka, who the hell is that?" Zuko suddenly said, catching everyone's attention.

Katara faced her brother. She realized that he was standing with his hand on a girl's elbow. Only the girl had a bag over her head. Sokka looked sheepish before pulling the bag off. The girl's wrists were bound with cloth, and she looked bored despite the circumstances.

Katara didn't recognize her, but obviously she was from the colony.

"I found her on the outskirts of the colony," Sokka said, proving Katara wrong. "I thought she might be a spy, and I panicked." Sokka finished, looking away and letting go of her elbow.

Zuko slapped his hand onto his forehead. "Only you, Sokka," He began, "Could bring a Fire Nation warrior onto the ship with us." Everyone gasped and Sokka took another step away from her. "She's a prodigy of the Fire Nation Trained with my sister when they were kids." He sighed and turned to face the girl. "Mai. It's nice to see you again."

Her face broke out into a smile that Katara could only classify as demented, since she still looked bored. "Prince Zuko. Long time, no see."

* * *

"Bring him in here." Chief Bei Fong commanded, yelling at the soldiers in his office.

A few moments later the Avatar was standing in front of the Chief, his arrows glowing in the dim light of the office.

"Leave us." Bei Fong said, and the door slammed shut after a few moments. "Do you know why you're here, Aang?"

"No," the young boy said, shaking his head.

Bei Fong smiled slowly. "There is a band of vigilantes are making their way here from the Fire Nation. Do you know why this is important?"

"No, sir."

"This group wants to kill you. They don't want you to live because you're a threat."

"How am I a threat?" Aang asked, fear slipping into his voice.

"You? You're not. But the next Avatar would be a Waterbender. And there's a Waterbender in the group. They could mold that person into a weapon and use them against us. They want to change the way of the world. They want to start a war and let the Water Tribes rule. Now do you understand?" Bei Fong asked, his gaze hard and demanding.

"Yes."

As Aang was led from the office back to the common room, his fear set in fully. This group wanted to kill him, and wanted to use his next life to take over the world.

After wallowing for a little bit in his room, Aang's resolve hardened. There was no way he was loosing to a group of nobodies from the world outside. He was keeping his life.

No matter what it took.

* * *

**A/N #2: **Ooh, a little glimpse of Avatar Aang. Brownie points to whoever can figure out the subtle hint I left about Aang's training.  
Review and let me know if you figure it out, and how you felt about the story!


	5. Confessions

**A/N:** Sorry for the late update!I don't know what happened to me!

Anyway, i hope you like the chapter, and I really can't wait to move forward with this one! Review and let me know how you liked it!

* * *

Sokka scrambled away from the girl, accidently shoving himself into Suki, who pushed him away angrily.

Katara looked back towards Mai, whose arms were crossed and- wait. Crossed? Katara checked again and realized that Mai had somehow unbound her wrists from the ropes.

Zuko had noticed as well. He walked to her, picking up the torn ropes that lay at her feet. "Mai, was that completely necessary?"

"They were uncomfortable." She said, raising her head to meet Zuko's eyes. Something passed between them, something that seemed almost familiar- as if they knew each other much more than in passing at the Fire Nation.

Suki looked annoyed. "Good going, Sokka. You brought a super powerful near-assassin to the ship. And we aren't docking for how long? A month?" She crossed her arms and glared at Sokka. He rubbed his neck and gave her a cheeky grin, but she wasn't amused.

Zuko and Mai were talking quietly, but suddenly Mai's voice gained in volume. "You're not even giving me a chance!" she yelled.

"I know what you're capable of, and there's no way I'm letting you hurt anyone again!"

"I never hurt anyone!" Mai cried, stomping her foot.

For a moment Zuko merely looked bewildered, but then he spoke to her in a calmer tone. "We can discuss this later. But for now, you're not off the hook. You're still a suspect, and there's no way you're allowed to go anywhere on the ship without a guard present. Do you understand?" He asked, signaling to a passing guard.

As he led her away, Mai shot Zuko a look that had so much anger in it, Katara was shocked that Zuko didn't break eye contact.

"What are we going to do about that one?" Jet asked, leaning casually against the railing of the ship.

Sokka was looking anywhere but where the group was. Zuko however, wasn't letting him off that easy.

"You should be thinking of something, Sokka," he said, anger creeping into his voice. "You're the one who brought one of the deadliest Earth Kingdom enthusiasts to the boat."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Sokka said, finally looking back at everyone. "She showed up out of nowhere and I didn't know what to do. I panicked."

"Everyone just calm down, okay?" Katara said, sensing a fight between her brother and the Firebender. "We can deal with her in a while. Maybe we drop her off at a near port instead of bringing her all the way to the Earth Kingdom. Who knows?"

Katara desperately wanted to avoid any fights on the ship. They were all fighting for one thing, and that should bring them together, not break them apart.

Zuko sighed. "Fine. But I'm not letting her come to the Earth Kingdom and c-compromise what we're doing."

Something about the way he said it set Katara's nerves on edge. It was almost as if Zuko didn't believe that Mai would hurt their mission. She tried to meet his eyes, but he wouldn't look her way.

"Sokka I want you and Suki to help guard her door," Suki's eyes widened in horror, but she didn't say anything. "Don't underestimate her. She's taken on the most highly trained warriors in the world, and made it out alive. That'll be tonight after dinner until the morning, alright?"

Sokka nodded, clearly relieved that Zuko hadn't kicked him off the boat.

As everyone moved to go his or her own ways, Jet grabbed Katara's arm and led her to the opposite end of the ship. "What are you doing?" She complained, trying to wrench her arm free, but he continued walking and didn't answer her question.

"It doesn't make sense." Jet said, staring out to the water retreating behind them.

"What doesn't?"

"If Mai is such an amazing fighter, then how did she get captured by someone like Sokka?" He asked, looking down at her. She was about to call him out on his obvious insult to her brother, but he continued before she could.

"What I mean is, if she's defeated the best fighters in the world, and can break through ropes in a matter of seconds, then why didn't she when Sokka first got her?"

Katara couldn't answer. She didn't know what to say to him. Katara had seen the moment pass between Zuko and Mai, and she figured he was a big part of why Mai had allowed herself to be caught on the ship.

"I-I don't know." Katara finally said, admitting defeat.

Jet looked smug, as if he had been expecting that answer. "Exactly."

A few moments passed between the two of them, and Katara turned to face the retreating waves. Something didn't sit right with her now that Jet had mentioned this. Why would Mai allow herself to be captured? She could have killed Sokka and run, and no one would have noticed.

"Maybe it's Zuko?"

Jet rubbed his chin, slinging his weapons back into his sleeves in the process. "Maybe. But you saw their fight. Something serious went down with them."

Katara's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" She demanded, turning to face the Earth Colony boy and not the water.

He was closer than Katara had originally thought, meaning that there was only a little bit of space between the two of them. She did her best to hide a shudder, raising her head slightly so she could meet his eyes.

"We know they knew each other before Zuko left the Fire Nation. So what if they were together? Or just friends? Or maybe they really hate each other and she was just a friend of Azula's." Jet shrugged, turning away from her on his heel. As he walked towards the stairs he called out to her, "We may never know. But either way, I wouldn't want to be on her bad side."

Katara was alone. After a day of fighting Earth Kingdom (good) vigilantes, and figuring out that there was an almost-assassin on their boat, Katara thought she would be exhausted.

Instead, Jet's question kept her mind whirling. In one decisive second, she turned and ran for the stairs, stopping the first soldier she found.

"Excuse me," she huffed, slightly out of breath, "Have you seen Zuko anywhere?"

The guard nodded. "The Prince is at the bottom of the ship. Near the cells, I believe." Katara thanked him before running to the end of the short hall and making a right towards the bottom of the ship.

She neared the large double doors that led to the cells when a guard stepped out of the shadows. "You can't go in there, miss." He said, his voice loud and terrifying in the small cavern of the ship.

"Why not?" Katara demanded, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"Prince Zuko's orders. No one is to be allowed in the rooms."

"Well, alright. Thank you for your time." Katara said, turning around to make her way towards the deck.

When she was sure that the guard had slipped back into the shadows Katara quietly unplugged the cork from her water pouch. Without a sound she brought the water up to encase her hand before spinning on her heel and thrusting the water in front of her.

It effortlessly hit its mark, freezing on the man's face. He slumped to the ground, a shocked look etched into his face.

Katara ran past him, pushing the doors open with all of her strength. She almost felt bad for attacking the guard, since he had only been doing his job, but all of her remorse drained when she saw the picture in front of her.

Zuko was sitting with Mai on her bed in one of the cells the farthest from the door. Her wrists weren't wrapped with anything, the door was open, and Zuko was laughing at something Mai had said.

Suddenly the girl gestured her head in Katara's direction, and when Zuko met her eyes his grin slipped off his face instantly.

"Katara, how did you get past the guard?"

"He's asleep," Katara lied, corking her pouch. "What are you doing with _her_?" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Mai rolled her eyes, "Talking, clearly."

Katara ignored her, glaring at Zuko's golden eyes. He was rubbing the back of his neck and looked embarrassed. "What happened to staying far away from her?"

Zuko sighed. "Katara you don't understand."

"That you're a liar?"

"No!" Zuko shouted, clearly getting angry. "I had to talk to her about som-"

"You two have a deep history, don't you?" Katara asked, taking her guess after seeing the look Mai was giving Zuko.

Zuko looked like he wanted to say something, but Mai didn't give him a chance. She sighed, looking even more bored than usual. "We dated."

That ripped through Katara's chest. She didn't know why, but hearing that made her feel betrayed, as if Zuko should have been the one to tell her, and not his crazy ex-girlfriend.

Katara didn't say anything, and Zuko avoided her gaze. Mai sat back on her bed, informing them that she was dropping out of the conversation.

She had been right: The only reason Mai got captured was so she could see Zuko again.

"Katara, wait!" Zuko called as Katara spun on her heel and ran back through the doors.

As she passed the guard she pulled the water from his head and bent it back into her punch, leaving him coughing and sputtering behind her.

She ran back up the stairs- half expecting to hear Zuko clambering up behind her- and nearly ran into Jet. She hadn't been paying attention to anything around her, but she realized that she was on the second staircase leading to the top deck.

"What's wrong?" Jet asked, and Katara could swear that she saw genuine worry etched into his features.

Katara took a step back, leaning against the handrail near the wall. Jet was on the same step as her, but he was standing rigidly.

"Nothing." Katara said, catching her breath. "We were right, though. Mai only came for Zuko. I saw him in her cell, laughing and talking, and she said they dated."

She was still absorbing everything she had just said, closing her eyes and trying to get the feeling of betrayal from her chest. Why did she feel like this? It wasn't like there was anything between her and Zuko. No. Never.

"Hmm," Jet murmured, looking off to the bottom of the stairs. "Didn't think that was gonna be true."

"What?" Katara asked, her eyes widening.

He laughed, and somehow it actually sounded happy, "Katara, I guessed about their entire past. I didn't think it would get to you like that."

Katara lurched forward, her hands aiming to get _anywhere_. She wanted to hurt him for making her look like a fool in front of Zuko.

He caught her hands easily, holding them between them as he pulled her closer. "Easy there. You think it's easy running an entire colony? I need to keep a few of my looks." He winked at her, but Katara rolled her eyes.

She tried to wrench her wrists from Jet's grasp –_again_, Katara realized- but again, he wouldn't let her go.

Jet's eyes lit up with a sudden realization. "You confronted him!" He cried, laughing again. "You actually accused him and got mad at him. _That's_ why you're mad at me!"

"N-No! That's not it." Katara said, faltering slightly. "You're not letting me go. That's why I'm mad."

Jet leaned closer, bringing his face directly to hers. "You're not made about that. You're mad because you don't know what to do. You're trapped with a bunch of strangers on a ship, and you're feeling inferior."

Katara tried to protest, but Jet wouldn't let her get a word in.

"Don't worry, beautiful. There's a place for you somewhere." He pulled back slightly and met her eyes. There was so much sincerity in them that Katara's breath caught in her throat.

Before she had time to register what he had said, he disappeared down the hall.

* * *

"I said cut it out!" Suki said for the tenth time.

Sokka was walking around in a circle, pretending to be a worried Water Tribe boy. He was talking about getting fish for dinner and how he was going to convince his father to let him join the brigade.

He was cracking himself up, too.

After a few more minutes Sokka sat down on the opposite side of the giant double doors. Suki was at the outermost edge of the door, trying to ignore him as much as possible.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Sokka asked, hooking a thumb to gesture towards the guard asleep a few feet away.

Suki rolled her eyes. "I already told you: He's been working all day, he deserves a bit of sleep."

Sokka was silent. She counted this as a blessing though, because she hadn't been able to get a thought in since the two of them had come down here after dinner.

"Why'd you team up with Jet?" Sokka suddenly asked, a serious expression covering his face.

Suki was taken aback. She didn't think this boy could even _look_ serious, let alone ask a question of the kind. But she answered anyway. "I didn't like how the guards were treating the people of out colony. My warriors and I were planning to siege control when Jet and his Freedom Fighters showed up. We didn't know what to think, but when they started battling the Earth Kingdom generals we joined in without a second thought. Jet and I formed a mutual agreement to join up and help each other." Suki shrugged, playing with her fan in the outstretched hands.

"You two were never- you know you didn't- you guys were never, like, with each other." Sokka asked, looking away.

A sudden noise brought them both to their feet, but it was quickly revealed to be nothing more than a rat.

Suki smiled in the darkness, suddenly grateful for the lack of light. Suki had told herself she would never smile with Sokka, but he had just made her.

Without sitting she answered, "Maybe. Maybe not. We did work with each other for a long while before you guys showed up."

As she sat back up against the door she heard Sokka huff. A smile broke her lips again as she reached over and punched Sokka in the arm.

"Ow!" He cried, rubbing his arm and looking at her, shocked. "What was that for."

"We were never anything, idiot. I don't trust the guy." She said, crossing her hands in her lap.

Sokka didn't say anything, but if Suki looked hard enough she could swear she saw a grin on the young Water Tribe boy's face.


	6. Warmth

**A/N: **Sorry about the long wait, again. Finals crept up on me, and the next thing i knew it had been nearly two weeks. But regardless, here's the next installment of the story, and i hope you guys all like it!

Leave me a review! :D

* * *

Early morning sunlight streamed through the tiny window in Katara's room, hitting her directly on the eyes. She groaned and threw her arm over her face to block it out, but the intense heat was preventing her from falling back asleep.

The boat lurched to the side suddenly, throwing Katara onto her stomach on the floor. She let out a yelp of pain, banging her elbow on the side of the table. She was instantly awake, her blood flowing faster than it had been before. Katara had never been particularly excellent on boats, but she had never been so unstable while on a bed.

As she stood up, rubbing her elbow slowly, she noticed that the boat had stopped moving. Scenarios of the worst possible cases flew through her mind, keeping her heart pumping at high speed.

Katara ran to her door, throwing it open as she sprinted towards the stairs that led to the top deck. She burst onto the deck, throwing her arms in front of her face against the sudden increase in sunlight. "Who's attacking? What's wrong?" she called out, lowering her arms.

Jet and Mai immediately burst out laughing, Suki didn't respond, Sokka looked embarrassed, and Zuko shook his head. They were all spread out with the soldiers on the deck.

"What's going on?" Katara asked, feeling heat spread to her cheeks.

That's when she realized they were docked at the port of a city. The port was filled with ships, unloading and loading large boxes down ramps to be brought to somewhere new. People were milling around, walking between shops and businesses, and she could see tall homes rising in front of the mountains.

"We're stopping for supplies." Zuko said, and Katara looked over to realize that he was standing next to her. "We've been at sea for almost a month, we're running out of things."

Katara nodded. The blush was beginning to leave her cheeks, but she didn't feel any less embarrassed about her previous outburst. "Sorry. Why's Mai up here?" she whispered the last part, jerking her thumb back to gesture to the girl.

"Consider it probation." Was all Zuko said as Katara noticed the rope still tied around the Fire Nation girl's wrists.

"Zuko, let's go." Sokka called from the opposite side of the deck.

Zuko called a response back to the boy, who was making his way over with Suki right behind him. "Put these on," Zuko said, holding a pile of clothes to Katara. She held them up and inspected them.

"Earth Kingdom?" she asked, guessing where the clothes had come from.

"They match mine," Sokka said, throwing his arm around her shoulders. Katara noticed that he was out of his traditional Water Tribe gear and had changed into clothes from the Earth Kingdom. Even Suki's flamboyant outfit was toned down, and there was no face paint.

Suki shrugged, meeting Katara's eyes. "If we're going to be infiltrating the Earth Kingdom at several colonies and key points, it would be better if we didn't look too obvious."

"We'll see you in a while, little sis." Sokka said, dropping his arm. He, Zuko, Suki, and at least a dozen Fire Nation soldiers, (Who were all dressed in green), set off for the ramp leading down to the dock.

Katara walked back to her room and quickly changed into the outfit before grabbing fruit from the kitchen and heading back to the top deck. Jet and Mai were still sitting together, lounging around and laughing loudly.

They stopped laughing as Katara approached, and she immediately feared that they had been talking about her.

Katara still didn't know what to think about Mai, especially now that she was outside of her cell, and after what she had seen the night before. And Jet. How was she supposed to decide what Jet was like when one minute he was fighting her and the next he was close to kissing her?

"How long do you think until they get back?" Katara asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. She ate a piece of fruit.

Jet shrugged, a piece of wheat sticking out from his lips. "Maybe before nightfall." He said, a smile on his face.

"Are we just supposed to stand here until they get back?"

"Unless you want to go on a suicide mission through an Earth Kingdom city." Mai said, glaring at her with the most enthusiasm Katara had ever scene on her face.

Jet stood up and took Katara's hand, leading her to the back of the ship. Mai rolled her eyes, turning to gaze at the city in front of them. He dropped her hand and put his on the railing, spitting his wheat into the ocean below.

Katara stood next to him, leaving her arms wrapped around herself. "Why are you always the last one to wake up?" he asked, leaning his side on the rail and looking at her.

"I guess you guys all wake up too early." He chuckled.

"I still don't understand it, though."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Understand what?"

"Why the Prince let the girl out of the cell."

Katara rolled her eyes, "They have names, you know." She said, leaning against the rail to face him, matching his stance.

Jet shrugged, unfazed by her interruption. "It's the same as yesterday. Nothing makes sense between _Prince Zuko _and _Mai_. She doesn't escape, even though she's highly qualified, and he just lets her out of the cell." He wags his eyebrows at her. "They like each other."

Something nags in Katara's heart as her breath catches in her throat. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it just as quickly.

"They-they don't like each other." She finally muttered, looking away from the boy in front of her.

"Whatever you say, Katara. You know everything about everyone." He said, his lips turned up in a smirk.

Katara glared at him. "I do not."

Jet smiled. "Then I'll hold true to my belief that they like each other. Why else would he spend half the night in her cell? And why would _you_ freak out if you didn't think something happened with them?"

"Shut up."

"Fine. But don't forget what I said." Jet told her. He turned around, as if to walk away, but Katara grabbed his upper arm to stop him. He froze, turning his head around and looking at her. "Yes?"

Katara faltered. She didn't know why she had stopped him, and now she didn't know what to do. "I-uh. I just wanted-"

"Okay, Katara." Jet interrupted, standing right in front of her. "I won't leave you until Sokka and the group get back from the mainland."

Did he just read the fear she didn't even knew she had on her face?

* * *

"That's my food!" Katara complained, reaching to grab it out of Jet's hands.

He laughed and held it higher, "Nope. You lost it fair and square."

The two of them were still sitting at the back of the deck, even though the sky was darkening. They had just finished another round of a gambling game that Jet had taught her, and Katara was particularly bad at it.

At first they had stood together, talking rigidly, unsure of how to deal with each other's constant company. For Katara it had been especially weird.

Jet was supposed to be some jerk from a colony that had hurt several Earth Kingdom civilians, and a bunch of soldiers, someone who made her question everything in her life, but as time wore on he seemed normal. Now, to Katara, he was just an older boy that kept a tough exterior to protect himself.

She couldn't let Jet know she thought this, of course.

"Give it back," Katara whined, holding onto his shoulder to try and reach the food.

He pushed her hand away, causing her to fall onto her knees as he sat back against the deck again. "Not happening," he said, raising his head to eat the fruit.

A water whip suddenly smacked his head to the side, the unforeseen event causing him to throw the food in the air. Katara stood, catching it as it fell, and quickly popped it into her mouth. "Don't mess with the Water Tribe." She said, mimicking her brother.

Jet rolled his eyes, fixing his soaked hair. "Cheater."

She shrugged, "I was hungry."

"Yeah, well now I am, too."

She sat down next to him, a little away from being right next to him. She folded her hands in her lap, leaving her legs in front of her, similar to how his were.

"I offered to get dinner from the kitchen, but you said you weren't hungry."

Jet laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I wasn't hungry then."

"Now you can starve," she joked, smacking him on the shoulder.

He caught her hand and held it pressed against his shoulder. Katara raised an eyebrow, but neither of them said anything.

"Thank you." Katara said after what felt like a long time.

He looked at her, confusion apparent in his eyes. "For what?"

"For staying with me, and knowing that's what I needed when I didn't even know."

He rolled his eyes, but a genuine smile tugged at his lips. "Don't mention it. I know what it feels like to be alone. My parents-"

"FIRE!" Someone called from the front of the boat, cutting off Jet's sentence. They both jumped up and ran to the front of the deck. One of the soldiers was pointing at the ship docked to the right of them, yelling something at the crew.

The ship next to theirs was on fire.

The crew was running around on the top deck, trying to think of anything to do. If the ship blew up, or the fire managed to spread on some driftwood, their ship would be the next to catch fire.

Mai was suddenly right next to Jet and Katara, leaning over the rail with excitement gleaming in her eyes. Katara didn't even mind that her wrists were unbound. _Again._

Katara raised her hands, channeling the water on the opposite side of the ship on fire. She pulled her arms up, raising the water. She had every intention to pull the wave over the ship, and stop any fire from hitting their boat, but something stopped her.

Before Katara could move the water to stop the fire, the ship exploded.

Mai ducked under the railing, guarding her face. Soldiers screamed, trying to find any cover from the debris suddenly falling from the sky.

It all happened so quickly, and Katara didn't have the time to lower her arms or protect herself with her waterbending. Her eyes widened as a huge cloud of wood and dirt hurtled right at her, but she never felt the impact.

Jet had grabbed her from behind, turning her around and wrapping his arms around her. He ducked his head, using his body to protect hers. Katara closed her eyes, burring her face in his neck and throwing her arms around his waist.

It sounded like rain as the last of the debris fell to the deck. And suddenly, it was silent.

Jet slowly let go of her, breaking apart apprehensively. Katara opened her eyes, loosening her hold on his waist.

There was nothing left of the ship, the fire had hit something on the inside, causing it to explode after only a short time. A few boards, some of fire and some not, were floating in the water, but there was nothing else. Katara quickly prayed to any spirits there were that the crew hadn't been on the ship.

"Are you alright?" Jet asked. His hands were on her shoulders, and he turned her so her back faced the wreckage. For this, she was glad. She didn't want to see that carnage anymore.

Katara looked around. The rest of the crew was slowly standing up, checking all over to make sure there was no damage to their boat.

"Katara. Are you alright?" Jet asked again, shaking her shoulders. The girl's mouth was open in a kind of dumbstruck way, and her eyes were wide with fear.

Normally Katara didn't get scared, but this instance had been eerily similar to one she had scene when she was younger. When she had witnessed a dozen ships blow up in the harbor near her village. Her father was one of the few to escape.

Jet shook her shoulders again, and Katara saw that he was worried.

Ignoring every warning inside her head, Katara grabbed his collar and pressed her lips against his.

She could feel his initial surprise, but eventually he loosened up, placing his hands on her waist to bring her closer. Even as one of his arms wrapped around her waist, Katara's hands never moved from his collar.

They broke apart, both of them breathing heavily. His hands stayed on her waist, and hers on his coat. "What was that for?" he asked, a smile playing at his lips.

She opened her mouth to answer when another voice cut her off. "What the hell happened?"

Katara glanced over Jet's shoulder and saw that Zuko, Suki, Sokka, and the soldiers had all returned. The soldiers were all holding paper bundles in their arms.

"The ship next to us, Prince Zuko, it blew up a few moments ago." The captain said, standing right in front of the Prince.

Mai was suddenly right next to him, her hand on her shoulder and her lips moving quickly by his ear. He nodded and looked up, right into Katara's eyes.

Sokka, Suki, and the rest of the soldiers had all moved to different areas of the ship, most likely to drop off the bundles. Sokka winked at his sister as he passed, said something to Suki, and she punched him in the arm before they disappeared down the stairs.

Zuko raised an eyebrow at her, and Mai chuckled. Jet dropped his hands from her waist, and Katara immediately crossed hers behind her back.

_Please, please don't tell me Zuko saw that._ Katara chanted in her head.

But the subtle anger in his eyes led her to believe that he had seen all too much.


	7. Messages

Katara wasn't able to sleep that night. After the ship had blown up, she was haunted with memories of what had happened in her village. And after a few hours of tossing in her bed, Katara had given up and walked to the top deck. She now stood, her forearms on the cold metal rail, with her gaze never leaving the water.

Why had she kissed Jet? And why had Zuko seemed so upset?

Right after the explosion, Katara had been stunned. She had merely expected to fall victim to the flying debris and flames, but Jet had jumped in front of her, taking the barrage with his back.

She had healed him later, but it had been awkward. She didn't want to speak after what had happened. He had asked her a few questions, but stopped when it was clear that Katara wasn't answering him.

Katara sighed, blinking at the dark water. She didn't even _like_ Jet. At least, she didn't think that she did.

Kissing him had been… nice? Katara didn't want to think about it anymore, especially because every time she did, she thought of Zuko's reaction.

It wasn't his place to be angry. Well, that's if he was angry with her to begin with. He could have just been mad that the crew hadn't cleaned the ship before he had gotten back.

Yeah. That had to be it.

Katara turned around to sit against the railing, leaning her head back. She wasn't tired, but she couldn't look into the dark, bottomless ocean any longer.

It only seemed like a few minutes when loud shouts erupted from the deck, startling Katara from her slumber. She realized she must have fallen asleep, since the early morning sun beat down on her bare arms.

Stupid Fire Nation clothing was designed for the heat. Katara wasn't used to having skin exposed.

"Prince Zuko! We've got important news!" a soldier yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to be as loud as possible.

"Shut up, would you?" a monotone voice said, and the soldier turned around to meet Mai's dull expression. "Do you want to wake the whole ship?"

The soldier held his ground, nodding. "That's the point, miss."

Zuko arrived at the top of the stairs, then, followed quickly by Sokka and Suki. Her brother sent Katara and odd look, but she just waved him away.

"What are you yelling about?" Zuko asked, his arms crossed in front of his body. Katara stood up and walked to stand next to her brother, who slipped a piece of bread into her hand as Jet appeared on the opposite side of Mai.

"Prince Zuko," the soldier said. "We've received a very urgent letter from one of the villages near by. A messenger hawk dropped it off this morning."

Zuko nodded, his gaze revealing no emotion. "Out with it, Chang."

"It says there's been a sighting of your mother in the village near there," Chang said, pointing to the trees behind them. "Apparently the sighting is from a few days ago, perhaps a week, but the descriptions matched."

The Fire Nation Prince's arms dropped to his sides, and he was staring at the ground. "Bring us to port," he said simply, turning to head back down the stairs.

A few minutes later, he reappeared with a cloak thrown over his frame. The Captain walked to meet him, and Katara heard him tell Zuko that the ship was ready to dock.

"This is probably a really big deal," Sokka said quietly, looking down at his sister.

Suki shrugged. "Zuko doesn't look very worried. Maybe this is something they've been planning?"

"No." Sokka said, shaking his head. "Zuko told us that he hasn't seen his mother in years. If there's been a sighting, he's going to trace it until the trail is dead."

Katara nodded. "Sokka's right."

"Mai, Suki. Let's go." Zuko said from across the ship, gesturing for the girls to follow him off the ship.

"Hey!" Sokka said, pointing towards the trio. "What about us?"

Zuko shook his head. "You don't need to get involved."

Sokka grabbed Katara's arm and led her to Zuko. "Too bad. We're not waiting here. We're supposed to be a team, you know, bonding and stuff. How are we going to stop the Earth Kingdom if you're leaving us on the ship?" Sokka exasperatedly flung his arms at his sister. "She's a master Waterbender! You only have a Firebender and two non-benders with you, more bending can help!"

Everyone was silent. Except for Jet, who you could hear laughing from the other side of the ship. Suki raised an eyebrow at Sokka, but Zuko looked impressed.

"Alright, Sokka. You guys can come. Now let's go." He turned and walked down the steps, Katara and Mai falling in step behind him.

"Not bad, Water Tribe." Suki said, and Katara could hear a smile in her voice. "Didn't think you had it in you."

Sokka was trying to sound many when he said, "Yeah, just got to stand up with your thoughts. Wait, you didn't believe in me?" She didn't answer, instead she just laughed.

"Prince Zuko, be back before dark. It is not wise to stay in the village for a long time." The Captain said, saluting the young prince.

Zuko nodded, flipping the hood of his cloak up. He began to lead them to the paths that wound into the trees.

"Which one do we take?" Katara asked, her hands on her hips.

Sokka concentrated for a moment before pointing at the one in the middle, "My instincts say we should take that one." Katara laughed.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Wrong. The soldier said the village that the message came from was at the end of _this_ path," he said, pointing to the path directly to the right of the one Sokka had chosen.

"I was close." Sokka said, starting down the path.

Mai snorted, and Suki said, "Almost would get us killed, Sokka."

The five of them started down the path, a comfortable silence enveloping them. It wasn't too dark under the trees, and Katara was glad that she was able to see. Her hand immediately went to her hip to fiddle with the top of her water pouch, but she found it empty.

"Damn!" she said, slapping her forehead.

"What's wrong?" Sokka called from the front of the group.

Katara sighed, glaring down at the red clothes she was wearing. "I forgot my water pouch on the boat."

"We're not turning around," Mai said, not bothering to turn around.

The Waterbender glared at the girl's back. "I'm not asking you to. I'll just have to hope that there's a stream or something to use."

"You don't know hand to hand combat?" Zuko asked from behind her.

"Nope," Katara said, shaking her head.

"Katara!" Suki called from her place next to Sokka. "Here!" She threw something over her shoulder, and Katara instinctively reached up to grab it.

Katara laughed, a smile spread over her features. "Suki, where did you get this?"

"I found it on the ship, figured it might come in handy."

Katara strapped the pouch over her shoulder to rest at her hip, her smile ever present. "Thank you."

Suki's delicate laugh floated back to her. "Don't mention it."

"Shh!" Sokka suddenly cried, throwing his hand in front of Suki to stop her from walking. "It's the village," he clarified before someone could object.

Zuko pulled his hood more comfortably around his face. "Let's go."

The group started forward, Katara waiting a few seconds so she could fall in step with Zuko. "Why are you wearing that?" she asked after a moment.

The boy sighed, but didn't look towards her. "I can't risk being recognized by anyone. Surely by now everyone in the Fire Nation knows that I'm going against my father. If I'm sighted, we could have thousands of troops on our tail in a day." He chuckled darkly. "So that's why."

"Oh," was all that Katara said.

The trail widened to expose a large circular area with homes on the outside, fields in the middle, and fire pits strewn along the ground. The trees were connected all around the village, guarding the area. It looked abandoned, with rocks dislodged everywhere, and empty windows meeting the group's eyes.

"Spread out and look for anything. Any clues." Zuko said, his voice sounding broken.

Katara walked with Suki towards the houses to their right. "What do you suppose we're looking for?" Suki asked as they ruffled through a few trunks.

"I guess anything to prove that his mother's been here." Katara answered, pulling out old photos of a small family.

Both the mother and father had green eyes, and the woman was beaming at a small bundle in her hands, the man laughing towards the sky.

Katara quickly stuffed the photo back into the trunk.

They looked through two houses before taking a break. They leaned against the doorframe of their third house, scanning the scene around them. Each of the houses, for the most part, looked exactly like the others. The only differences were the touches of family on the walls and in the rooms.

Suki sighed, standing from her post and walking towards a trunk. Katara headed towards the main bedroom, leaving through the drawers next to the bed. She found the bottom one to be empty, save for a letter.

Katara gasped as she recognized the Fire Nation emblem on the ribbon that kept the paper rolled up. She slowly unrolled it, her eyes scanning the characters quickly.

_Ursa,_

_ I do hope this messenger hawk gets to you in time._

_I fear that there is trouble brewing in the heart of the Fire Nation. Zuko has left the kingdom with two Water Tribe peasants. The Fire Lord believes that he is going to help them defeat the Bei Fongs. He has sent Azula and Ty Lee to find them, and stop them. I worry that he will not be ready to stop them. I know you have been forced to stay away from your family and the Fire Nation. But if Zuko really is traveling the world to stop the war, there is a tiny chance that he would be coming to your village, wherever that may be._

_Please, stay safe._

_All my love,_

_Your mother._

Katara quickly rolled the letter back up, feeling as if she had just intruded on something incredibly deep and private. She stuffed the letter into a fold in her clothing, running to the front room to tell Suki of her find.

"Suki!" Katara yelled, stopping when she realized that she was alone.

Katara walked out of the door to find her friends in the middle of the village. She jogged to the group, about to ask why they weren't looking, when she noticed their anxious expressions.

"What?"

Zuko nodded towards Mai. "She thinks someone's here."

Mai scowled. "I don't _think _it, I know it. They're that way." She pointed towards the trees, and just as she did, two figures stepped from the woods.

"Mai. I had always admired your brilliant tracking abilities." The voice was hauntingly familiar, and Katara's eyes widened.

Azula.

The other girl laughed, her braid swinging behind her shoulders. "Azula, you said you hated everything about Mai! Especially after she was captured."

"Oh, don't worry Ty Lee, I still hate her. But I do admire her." Azula said, her dark eyes narrowing.

Zuko stepped forward, throwing his hood back. "Why are you here, Azula?"

Her lips lifted into a smirk. "What's the matter, Zuzu? A sister can't visit her darling brother?" When Zuko didn't answer, Azula shrugged. "Fine. I guess we'll just have to kill you all," she turned to Ty Lee. "What do you think?" the girl nodded energetically.

Everyone sprang into action at once. Ty Lee leaped into the air, chasing after Sokka. Suki followed close behind. Mai dropped back, knives glinting in her long sleeves. She lodged a few at Azula, but she dodged them. Zuko threw a few good punches at her, but she managed to deflect them as well.

Ty Lee rounded back towards Katara, who quickly bent the water from her pouch. She aimed at the girl's feet, freezing the water beneath her feet. She stumbled, giving Sokka the chance to charge at her.

Ty Lee punched Sokka in the side a few times, and his arm hung limply at his side. Suki ran from behind him, kicking at her face. Katara joined her, throwing out water whips and anything else she could think of.

Katara desperately wished that there was more water around.

Zuko let out a yell from his fight, ducking under a wave of blue fire. Mai was trying to hit any part of Azula, but the Princess was too fast for her. But suddenly, Azula flipped over to where Ty Lee was, and stopped the girl from fighting.

Azula whispered something to the girl, and the two of them ran into the trees. There was a quiet _whir_ as a flurry of knives flew past Katara's face, landing in the tree trunks as the two girls ran away.

"Why did they leave?" Sokka asked, cradling his arm.

Zuko narrowed his eyes, clearly angry. "They have a plan. This won't be the last time we see them."

Suki ran back towards Sokka. "What happened to you?"

Sokka shrugged, a blush creeping onto his face. "I don't know. That girl, Ty Lee, hit me a few times and then I couldn't move my arm."

"That's because she's a chi blocker." Mai said, glaring towards the woods. "It'll wear off in a few hours. Then you'll be back to normal, or whatever you can be classified as."

Sokka and Suki shot her matching glares.

"Did anyone find anything?" Zuko asked. Katara was about to tell him about the letter, but he quickly said. "Nevermind. I don't want to stay here any longer. Let's just get back to the ship."

It was uncomfortably silent on the walk back through the trees. Everyone could tell that Zuko was upset, and no one wanted to make him any angrier. Mai was walking next to him, her arm around his waist. Suki and Katara exchanged raised eyebrows, and Sokka muttered about his stupid arm.

The captain spotted them as they walked out of the woods, and the soldiers immediately lowered the ramp for them to board the ship.

"Were you successful, Your Highness?" one of the soldiers asked as the captain left to start the ship.

"No-"

Katara interrupted. "Yes! Zuko, I completely forgot about this." She reached into the folds in her pants, pulling out the letter that she had found back at the house. "I found this before Azula and Ty Lee attacked. Here."

She handed the letter to him, watching as he took it gently.

"Azula and Ty Lee?" Chang soldier asked. "They were here?"

"Yes." Mai said, "Make sure they don't follow us, or get near the ship." The soldiers all nodded, dispersing around the deck.

Zuko read through the letter. When he finished he didn't speak, but rolled the letter up and stuck it in a pocket in his cloak.

"She was there." He whispered. He stared out at the land around them as the ship began to move. "I may not know where she is now, but there's no way I'm letting her get away again."

Mai rested her head against his shoulder, and he instinctively smiled down at her.

"Successful trip?" Jet asked, coming up to the group. They all nodded. "Where are we heading now?"

Zuko shrugged. "I guess to more Earth Kingdom colonies. We need reinforcements."

The ship started to gain speed, but it stayed fairly close to the coastline. Katara didn't know where they were going, but she knew that this was what they needed to do. They needed allies, without help, they wouldn't be able to take down the Earth Kingdom.

And that was the one thing they really needed to do.

* * *

**A/N: **I am so sorry this update took so long! I had the worst writer's block ever, but today i forced myself to finish this chapter. I hope you enjoy it, though!

Thank you to everyone whose read, and who took any time to review. I truly appreciate it all!


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